


Waves to the Shore

by teamchaosprez



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, First Meetings, Lifeguard Galo Thymos, M/M, Merman Lio Fotia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24085531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchaosprez/pseuds/teamchaosprez
Summary: Lio, attempting to search for food for his school, is mistaken for a drowning person by a strangely kindhearted human.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 8
Kudos: 127





	Waves to the Shore

**Author's Note:**

> first promare fic be gentle  
> happy mermay!

Trying to find fish so close to a public beach was… difficult, to say the least, but Lio didn’t have very many other options. At least the sun had begun sinking below the horizon and the families enjoying the summer weather had begun dispersing and going home for the day; that was the only time the merman felt reasonably safe hunting so close.

He couldn’t go very far from the small cove where the rest of his school was hiding, and it was on him and Meis and Gueira to find enough fish to feed everyone. Being the leader, he’d taken it upon himself to send them in the two directions that did  _ not _ go toward where humans congregated for recreation. Lio thought it was safer for him to take the risks; if something happened to him, either of his right-hand men could take over for him.

It was safe thus far. But the lack of food was… disappointing.

He understood that those who’d been damaged by the experiments in the facility he freed them from couldn’t swim very far yet. The cove was a relatively safe spot for them to heal, so it really shouldn’t have been a problem. And yet here he was - progressively more and more frustrated by his lack of ability to provide the environment they needed to heal.

A fish slipped through his clawed hands. Lio sighed heavily; he might have to just give up and go catch up with Meis and Gueira and pray they wound up with at least some food. Maybe gathering seaweed would be a better option? It wouldn’t be ideal, but it would be  _ something. _ The merman swam quickly to the nearest clump of seaweed, gathering handfuls in his hands and tucking them into the leather bag around his hip. He just wanted to get back and go to sleep.

His attention mainly on gathering what little food he could and placed on one track by his exhaustion and impatience, Lio didn’t think to pop his head out of the water and look to the beach to check for any humans that might be too close for comfort. He didn’t think much of movement around him - he was in the ocean, and any movement that was relatively isolated could be assumed to be the current. It wasn’t until whatever was approaching him got close and loud that he paused in his gathering and stilled, trying to listen a little closer.

This halting in movement would prove to be fatal, because whatever had been approaching him wrapped a rather large and muscular arm around Lio’s middle and began swimming with him, dragging him away from the seaweed and toward the direction of the beach. The merman was startled for a moment, but began to struggle, wriggle and writhe to get away - gods, what if he’d just gotten himself captured by someone that worked for those scientists again? How  _ stupid _ could he be? No matter how hard he writhed and struggled to get away, his captor’s grip didn’t ease up. Whoever they were, they were  _ excessively _ strong - enough to withstand a creature in its element.

He was still wriggling to get away as his head was tugged above the surface of the water, only stopping his fight once he could feel the ocean’s floor against his back and tail. The setting sun cast an orange light against him; wasn’t as hot and insufferable as it would have been in the afternoon. It was still all to dry for him as he was pulled onto the beach, squinting up in an attempt to see his captor.

A human, he could say that much for sure now. They were tall, clearly made up of quite a bit of muscle and with hair in a ridiculous shape. His eyesight wasn’t great above water, so he couldn’t really make out any of their features - it was too blurry, the sun above them casting too much of a shadow.

“Hey, you’re awake!” The person laughed boisterously, and while Lio could pick up on some movement he couldn’t work out what they were doing. Whatever it was, their hand went up to their head. “That was a close one! Y’know, the tail looks cool and all, but you shouldn’t go out so far with it on - especially not so late at night! You’re lucky I lost my keys today, or I would’ve left twenty minutes ago!”

“What the hell did you drag me out of the water for?” he asked, feeling discomfort start to build under his skin as he started to dry off. Ugh… he’d roll back into the ocean, but it was too shallow for him to go anywhere, and he was fairly certain that the gigantic idiot that dragged him out would just pull him onto land again if he tried that.

Humans were too stubborn for their own good, in Lio’s mind.

“You were drowning, weren’t you? I’m a lifeguard! It’s my sworn duty to protect everyone that comes onto this beach, as long as I’m here too!” They moved again, and from the sound of skin on skin Lio assumed that they’d hit their hand against their chest. “My name’s Galo Thymos, but you can call me  _ the guy who just saved your life!” _

“I wasn’t  **drowning** . And you certainly didn’t save my life. If anything, you owe me an apology for inconveniencing me.”

“Oh, come on! You were floating an inch under the water with your head down!”

“Because I was gathering from the seaweed there, idiot.”

Galo Thymos stared at him for a few seconds, apparently confused by the statement for a few moments. He gasped, and suddenly Lio was lifted into his muscular arms again; the merman wriggled to get away, gritting his sharp teeth when the lifeguard started poking at his tail.

“You mean this is real?” Galo asked, a sort of quiet awe in his voice that almost made Lio blush. “Oh, man, I didn’t think mermaids existed! I’m sorry, man. Here, let me carry you back into the water.”

He carried through on that promise, and it wasn’t long before Lio was set back down in the water. He let out a quiet sigh as the comfort of the water dragged him back down under its waves; at least this human didn’t intend to drag him along to some facility somewhere to be studied.

Lio was aware he was one of the stronger swimmers of his school, but he doubted he could trick a group of crafty humans and escape by himself if he was being held captive. He ducked under the waves, and it was then that he could see the human that “rescued” him with more clarity.

He was about as tall and big as Lio could see with the shadows on the shore; his hair and eyes were a stunning blue, facial features about as strong as the rest of him. A massive scar was visible on his left forearm - Lio could recognize, from the shape of it, that he must have been bitten by a shark at some point. He kept going into the water to save people, even after having an experience that might make other humans afraid of the ocean?

He was either extremely brave, or extremely stupid, or a mixture of the two.

Lio could have begun swimming away as soon as the muscular arms of the lifeguard were no longer around him - he could have started fleeing back to the cove with the knowledge that this singular human wouldn’t be able to keep up or even hold his breath long enough to find the mermaids’ hiding spot. Instead, he found himself fascinated.

Unless he had some hidden communication method, there was no way he could have reached out to other humans. He’d brought him back into the water instead of dragging him further inland.

Why?

“What’s your name?” Galo asked, and the question startled Lio for a couple of seconds. “Fish people have names, right?”

“Of course we do,” Lio replied, annoyed; “we’re intelligent creatures, just like you. Though calling you  _ intelligent _ might be a bit of a stretch.” He hesitated, wondering if giving that information to someone he didn’t know would be a good idea… there would be no way to track him down with only a name, so he supposed there was no harm in it. “My name is Lio Fotia.”

“Huh, that’s surprisingly normal!” Galo declared, and Lio flicked him with his tail. “Ow, hey, sorry! I don’t mean to be insulting, it’s just really cool to meet a merman!”

Lio huffed, and tilted his head up past Galo to check on the sky. The evening was wearing on; it would be dark soon, and then he would  _ have _ to make his way back to the cove. He could see alright in the dark, good enough to make his way home, but the last thing he wanted was to cause unnecessary worry to the mermaids and mermen that he was looking after.

“Thanks to you, I’ve lost out on valuable time looking for food.” He wasn’t sure why he was complaining about it, really; there was nothing this human could do about the situation and it would really only serve to make him feel bad - something there was little point in doing, even if it would bring him momentary catharsis.

“I really am sorry, man,” Galo sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. A thoughtful expression crossed his face; it didn’t take very long for it to light up and for the human to grin. “Hey, why don’t I help you! I bet you’ll end up with more food than you know what to do with!”

“You’re not going to be able to do much.”

“At least let me try!”

Well… there was really no harm in it. So Lio nodded, and ducked back under the water.

**Author's Note:**

> hey please comment + kudos if you enjoyed! <3


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